Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju

Bundled with the special editions of the manga's 7th and 8th volumes. When a certain man is released from prison, he knows exactly where he's heading first. After falling in love with a traditional comic storyteller's rendition of the story called "Shinigami," he is determined to become his apprentice. The performer, Yakumo, has never taken an apprentice before, but to everyone's surprise, he accepts the eager ex-prisoner, nicknaming him "Yotaro." As Yotaro happily begins his new life, he meets others in Yakumo's life, including Yakumo's ward Konatsu. Konatsu was the daughter of a famous storyteller, and Yakumo took her in after her father's tragic death. Konatsu loved her father's storytelling, and would love to become a performer in her own right—but that path is not available for women.

Bundled with the special editions of the manga's 7th and 8th volumes. When a certain man is released from prison, he knows exactly where he's heading first. After falling in love with a traditional comic storyteller's rendition of the story called "Shinigami," he is determined to become his apprentice. The performer, Yakumo, has never taken an apprentice before, but to everyone's surprise, he accepts the eager ex-prisoner, nicknaming him "Yotaro." As Yotaro happily begins his new life, he meets others in Yakumo's life, including Yakumo's ward Konatsu. Konatsu was the daughter of a famous storyteller, and Yakumo took her in after her father's tragic death. Konatsu loved her father's storytelling, and would love to become a performer in her own right—but that path is not available for women.

"I've got nothing, so I'm going there." Former small-time crook Yotaro has never forgotten the rakugo tale "Shinigami" that the great artist Yurakutei Yakumo performed to him in prison. After his release, he goes right to Yakumo's theater, and pleads to be made his apprentice. He's accepted, but quckly finds himself dealing with many strange twists in the world of rakugo, including a growing bond with Yakumo's ward, Konatsu, and reminders from his own inescapable past.

Yakumo begins the story of the promise he made with Sukeroku. When he was young, he was taken in by the 7th generation Yakumo and named Kikuhiko. He met the young boy Sukeroku, a strange child who insisted on taking over the Yakumo name, with a natural talent for rakugo. He is given the stage name Hatsutaro, and although his personality is unconventional, and his rakugo is rough, he loves rakugo more than anything. Together wth his polar opposite, the reluctant Kikuhiko, they begin their days of training.

After their first performance, Kikuhiko sharply feels the difference in skill between himself and Hatsutaro. Hatsutaro recommends he try erotic stories, but Kikuhiko is struggling so hard just to memorize the beginner stories, he can't even begin to consider anything else. The fact that he has to go to school in the mornings causes the gap between him and Hatsutaro, who can spend the day learning rakugo, to grow wider. Even so, he gradually comes to love rakugo more and more, and to develop something of a normal life. But the shadow of the war approaches, tearing rakugo, love, and friendship apart...

After ten years' apprenticeship to the eight generation Yakumo, Yotarou has finally achieved the rank of shin'uchi and taken on the name "Sukeroku," after his master's fellow student and Konatsu's father. Things appear to be smooth sailing at first, but complications soon arise. Between rakugo's fading legacy and Yotarou's concerns about single mother Konatsu, can the third generation Sukeroku bear up under the burden he has taken on?

A magazine has exposed Yotarou's past as a former convict and member of the yakuza, plunging the rakugo world into scandal and sullying Yotarou's name. Although he continues performing as if nothing has happened, his growing desperation is coming out in his performance. He loses TV appearances, and the customers in the theaters have begun to turn on him, as well. But Yotarou's insecurities seem to come from more than just the scandal...

Consumed by concerns over not finding his own rakugo, as well as harboring doubts about the relationship between Konatsu and a local gang boss, Yotarou lets off steam by performing the rant from "Daiku Shirabe." Higuchi joins him, idly wondering why the carpenter goes off on the rant. Yotarou confesses he never thought about it before. Soon after, Yotarou hears that the gang boss is visiting the restaurant where Konatsu works, and decides to come along...